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I love both my reel son and real son equally - Ambika Ranjankar

Komal Hathi wasn’t a part of the column Duniya Na Oondha Chashmah written by columnist and journalist Taarak Mehta for the Gujarati weekly magazine Chitralekha. SAB TV’s Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah based on this column decided to include an endearingly chubby character called Komal Hathi who is the dear wife to Dr Hansraj Hathi (Azad Kavi) and a caring mother to Goli Hansraj Hathi (Kush Shah).

Komal’s character shaped up as the show progressed. The writers, Dharmesh Mehta (the former director of the series), Dilip Joshi who plays Jethalal Gada, producer Asit Modi and Ambika Ranjankar who essays the role of Mrs Hathi chipped in their invaluable inputs to create a delightful character. The actress had added Mrs Hathi’s tagline, ‘Oh, come on.”

Mrs Hathi despite wearing Western attire is very Indian in many ways. The way her character has been etched is a welcome change from regressively typecasting women in Western attire as possessing all the ‘vices’ of modernism.

In real life the actress prefers Indian attire to Western clothes. She informs us that viewers are pleased that Mrs Hathi is the ‘right’ blend of tradition and modernism. Ambika explains, “She maintains her house like a traditional Indian housewife and also helps her husband in his clinic. She is the perfect blend of a strict and lovable wife and mother.”

Regarding her rapport with her onscreen husband and son she says, “Azad replaced Nirmal Soni who was earlier playing Mr Hathi. It took me a while to gel with him. Kush is more like a friend to me. He addresses me as ‘didi’. We keep on pulling one another’s legs and play pranks. I love both my reel son and real son equally.”

Does the actress think that the surname Hathi is regressive? After all it is not too good in taste to associate those who are overweight to a large animal. Ambika’s diplomatic reply is, “As her first name is Komal, it is a balanced out name.”